Text Size

SIREN: FEDERAL JUDGE RULES COMMERCIAL DRONES ARE LEGAL — Pro Transportation’s Kevin Robillard reports: “A federal judge slapped down the FAA’s fine for a drone operator, saying there was no law banning the commercial use of small drones. The judge’s decision could open up the skies below 400 feet to farmers, photographers and entrepreneurs who have been battling the FAA over the use of the unmanned aerial vehicles. NTSB Administrative Law Judge Patrick Geraghty ruled Thursday that the policy notices the FAA issued as a basis for the ban weren’t enforceable because they hadn’t been written as part of a formal rulemaking process. The ruling, for now, appears to make it legal for drones to fly at the low altitude as part of a business — whether that’s delivering beer, photographing a baseball game or spraying crops.” http://politi.co/1hR9G99

BROADCASTERS DIG NEW STELA BILL; BUT WILL DEMS? — Your MT-er’s take: “House telecom Chairman Greg Walden’s draft proposal to update a satellite law may be more palatable to broadcasters than a previous version — but securing Democratic support for the measure unveiled Thursday may be a little trickier ... Walden, in a statement, referred to his measure as an effort to address a few “discrete issues” — a nod, perhaps, to broadcaster worries that he might use the must-pass satellite bill as a vehicle for sizeable changes to video marketplace laws. But that doesn’t guarantee smooth sailing, as Democratic feathers could be ruffled.”

“For starters, the must-buy change was something that Democrats would have likely backed — in fact, it was a component of a TV reform bill floated by telecom subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) last year. ‘The bill may make it harder for Democrats to support,’ said one Democratic aide. ‘Now there’s all types of problems with it. I think it’s worse now than it was yesterday.’ Eshoo did not immediately release a statement on the Walden bill, but she’s previously expressed concern about a separate component of the bill.” More, for Pros: http://politico.pro/1gdmpPi

—FCC SEEKS CURB ON BROADCASTER SERVICES AGREEMENTS: Walden’s STELA bill, of course, landed about an hour after news of a Tom Wheeler push to close what some call a loophole in the FCC’s media ownership rules. The effort, previewed by Brooks last month, would block joint sales agreements where one entity sells more than 15 percent of ad time for two stations in the same market — but it’s worth noting that Walden’s bill would pump the brakes by prohibiting that kind of change until the agency completes pending reviews of ownership rules (which the FCC says its going to work on.)

The proposal would also block joint retransmission consent negotiations by two stations in the same market — much to the delight of groups like the American Cable Association, which has been fighting for such a change for years. (Walden’s bill, too, would curb joint negotiations by giving pay TV companies the choice to negotiate jointly or separately.) Broadcasters balked at the Wheeler effort: "Coincidentally, two industries would benefit from today's proposal: Big Cable companies who want less competition for advertising in local markets, and wireless companies who support punitive FCC actions that drive more TV stations into spectrum auctions,” NAB’s Gordon Smith said in a statement.

GOOD FRIDAY MORNING and welcome to Morning Tech, where we’re inching toward the end of the week just like you, and would love to hear about your tech or telecom highlight of the past five days — or better yet, what that’s going to be next week. We’re at abyers@politico.com and @byersalex, so hit us up anytime, and catch the rest of the team’s contact info after speed read.

** Sponsored by TVFreedom.org: We need a clean STELA reauthorization, not another vehicle to hike consumers’ cable bills.Pay-TV is trying to gouge consumers by taking the channels they watch most out of their basic package. They are ripping people off to boost record profits. **

BRILL EYEING ON ‘RISK-BASED’ PRIVACY FRAMEWORKS — The privacy-minded FTC commissioner has her own Q&A at the IAPP conference this morning, where you can expect her to touch on some of the more routine topics like big data and data brokers. But she tells MT she’s continuing to think closely about the potential for “risk-based frameworks” for data collection and usage, like a private-sector approach that considers not just what is legal, but what might be risky or harmful to the consumer.

Watch for that to come up her during her IAPP appearance today — in particular, the question of who gets to decide what’s risky. If those people or entities are sitting in an ivory tower, those decisions may not line up with how consumers feel, she said. That means — as she’s pushed on data brokers — some kind of interface with consumers would be crucial.

—SHE’S ON AT NOON, BUT TWO OTHER IAPP SESSIONS TO CATCH: Peter Swire, who was on the president’s intel review group and used to lead the W3C do not track group, sits for a morning Q&A at 8:15. Facebook’s Erin Egan has her own chat with CDT’s Nuala O’Connor at 2 p.m.

TWITTER LOOKS TO ADD TO D.C. SHOP — The social network is looking for a new public policy manager to bolster its Washington presence, according to a job notice posted Thursday afternoon. Colin Crowell and Will Carty lead Twitter’s D.C. efforts right now, but the company has continued to get more involved in policy issues, especially after its IPO last year. http://bit.ly/1gdqenE

THE HOUSE IP SUBCOMMITTEE’S DMCA HEARING has been rescheduled for next week — it will take place on the morning of Thursday March 13.

ROSENWORCEL: NOW’S THE TIME TO GET MORE WIFI IN 5GHZ — The Democratic FCC commissioner wants to seize the day on expanding unlicensed spectrum in the lower 5 GHz band, she’ll say n a speech this morning. "We should seize this opportunity right now,” she tells unlicensed advocacy group WiFi Forward this morning, according to excerpts of her remarks. "We can take the flexible Wi-Fi rules that have already been the script for an unlicensed success story in the 5.725-5.825 GHz band and expand them to the 5.15-5.25 GHz band. If we do, we could effectively double unlicensed bandwidth in the 5 GHz band overnight. That will mean more unlicensed service — and less congestion on licensed wireless networks. That’s win-win.”

CURIOSITY, CAUTION FOR EDU TECH BOOM — Stephanie Simon, filing from Austin: “The packed halls at the SXSWedu conference in Austin this week attest to two truths: A whole lot of entrepreneurs want a piece of the $8 billion educational software market. And a whole lot of educators are interested in trying the new technology — but wary of turning over their classrooms to the latest hyped-but-untested innovation.” http://politico.pro/1iirBb

—AND: FCC WANTS MORE INPUT ON E-RATE: Per our pal Caitlin Emma: “The Federal Communications Commission wants more public input on a gamut of ideas for reforming a federal Internet subsidy for schools and libraries, causing some to worry about the direction of an overhaul touted by the White House ... The bureau wants to know how best to wire schools internally for high-speed broadband; whether and how to phase down or out traditional voice services in order to pour more resources into broadband; whether the FCC should authorize experiments to help determine new ways to achieve cost-effective purchasing; and whether and how to deploy a one-time initiative that would bring high-speed broadband to schools that don’t have it yet.” http://politico.pro/MTfMd2

SPEED READ

SPRINT BOSS ENVISIONS U.S TURNAROUND: Masayoshi Son is bringing in 1,000 employees from Japan to help jumpstart the No. 3 U.S.wireless carrier, the WSJ reports: http://on.wsj.com/NDGp6T

FOREIGN INFLUX FOR SXSW: Some Silicon Valley firms may not be headed to Austin this year, but plenty from around the globe are, the NYT reports: http://nyti.ms/NDGDuU

NAVY HACKING BLAMED ON IRAN TIED TO FAULTY CONTRACT: A poorly written contract with HP left unmaintained security systems for the database, the Wall Street Journal reports: http://on.wsj.com/NDDpaK

BAER RECUSES ON COMCAST-TWC DEAL: The DOJ’s top antitrust cop previously worked for NBC while in the private sector, Bloomberg reports: http://bloom.bg/NDDCuk

BLACKBERRY CHECKS UP ON WHITE HOUSE: The company’s leader wants to make sure the administration is still pleased with their devices, Bloomberg reports: http://bloom.bg/NDDNG0

SPOTIFY BUYS MUSIC CONSUMPTION ANALYSIS FIRM: It’s the latest evidence that being able to leverage user data will help give firms in the music space a leg up, NYT reports: http://nyti.ms/NDEq2w

** Americans count on local TV stations to be included as part of their basic cable packages. Pay-TV wants to raise prices on tens of millions of TV viewers in the United States, including Spanish-speaking households, seniors on fixed incomes, and rural Americans.

This is a pay-TV ripoff that takes broadcast programming away from people who already have it, so pay-TV can charge them even more money to get it back.